Rock Valley College receives national manufacturing recognition

ROCKFORD — Up-and-coming manufacturing workers will no longer be forced to choose between entering the workforce or enrolling in college to launch their career.

Rock Valley College announced today that it is designated as a Right Skills Now college, which will allow students this fall to earn stackable credentials that can either be used toward an internship or college credit. The institution is one of 10 colleges in the country to receive this recognition.

“The college mission is about life-long learning, and eventually there has to be an opportunity for a student to not only get that job but to continue with their education,” RVC Interim President Mike Mastroianni said.

“To be able to move up in the organization or just to enhance their skills for the technical job that they might acquire, this is an opportunity for all of that to be able happen.”

Here’s how it works: students take the ACT WorkKeys Assessment Test and choose a program — CNC Level 1, Materials Measurement Safety, Bench Work and Planning, or Set-up and Programming for Mill and Lathe — to earn their National Institute of Metalworking Skills, or NIMS, credentials.

Then, students decide if they would like to pursue an internship, or pass an entrance exam and two classes to translate the credentials into three hours of college credit toward their degree. Either way, participants learn the skills needed to land a job in the manufacturing field.

“We like that it’s fast-track. We like that it’s customizable. There is a real emphasis on continuing education,” Laura Parker, director of IT and global process design, at Eclipse Combustion.

The company, which manufactures industrial heating and drying applications, provides internships to those entering the field. Parker said she was approached by Mastroianni last fall to help re-energize the relationship between the two groups and grow the area’s skilled workforce.

“It will give us the opportunity to mold students to be globally competitive in manufacturing,” Parker said.